In order to remain successful, any industry that produces consumer goods must constantly monitor the quality of their products. If the actual or perceived quality of a product is lower than customer expectations, then the customer will find alternative producers of a similar, better quality product. Therefore, it is in the best interest of producers of consumer goods to constantly strive to improve the quality of their products.
Unfortunately, the way in which each consumer perceives quality may vary. Producing a product that fulfills a function without needing repair is only the first step in satisfying today's modern consumer. While designers are successful at making products whose subjective characteristics are perceived by consumers as high quality, it is more difficult to design a product whose objective characteristics are perceived in the same way. For example, the size, weight, or functions of a product are all easily measured and designed into a product; however, the vibrations produced, or color of a product are more subjective. Also, what may seem acceptable to a designer often may not be acceptable to a consumer.
One of these subjective characteristics is vibration in an automobile. Vehicle vibration is a major source of customer complaints. Unfortunately, prior art solutions have generally relied on subjective measurements with limited success.
Recent developments in the area of vibration detection have allowed more objective measurements of vehicle vibration. The drawback of these techniques is that they are labor intensive and do not have immediate feedback to repair personnel. These limitations make current vibration detection technologies non-conducive to an assembly plant environment. Also, even after having objective measurements of vehicle vibration, there is almost no data on what forms and types of vibration are most objectionable to the consumer.
The disadvantages associated with conventional vehicle vibration repair techniques have made it apparent that a new technique for incorporating customer feedback during a repair process into correcting vehicle vibration is needed. The new technique should be able to objectively detect vehicle vibration without significant labor involvement. The new technique should also provide immediate feedback to repair personnel to allow vehicle vibration to be corrected.